NBA commissioner David Stern confident New Jersey Nets will break ground this summer in Brooklyn

Richard Drew/Associated PressNBA commissioner David Stern said Wednesday teams are facing 'hard work' when it comes to surviving a tough economy.

NEW YORK -- Gathered in a ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Manhattan, within miles of new stadiums already built or on the horizon for each of their sports, the commissioners of Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL and NHL faced an obvious question: In this terrible economy, how much of a burden will teams bear after opening their palaces?

"It's hard work, and it's going to be harder certainly now," NBA commissioner David Stern said at Wednesday morning's "Future of Sports" panel. "But it will have a period of readjustment, and it will continue to go."

That was the overriding mentality as the commissioners -- whose leagues pull in a combined annual revenue of $21.2 billion -- discussed the effect of these trying economic times on professional sports. While adjustments need to be made, the leagues are still moving forward.

In no area is that more relevant than New York, where the Devils, Mets and Yankees have all recently opened new venues, the Giants and Jets are completing their joint stadium, and the Nets have plans to begin construction of their new home.

Stern was confident the Nets' Brooklyn relocation project, the future of which has been in doubt, would break ground this summer. "Yes, they will, I'm told," he said. "I'm sure."

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said teams were making the right adjustments to sell tickets in this economy. Asked about the Yankees decision last week to cut ticket prices on the most expensive seats at their new $1.5 billion stadium, he said those decisions are left up to individual franchises.

Selig said he doesn't see the potential of a foreclosure at any ballpark in the league.

"I really believe clubs know their own market better," Selig said.

The conversation also turned to the Phoenix Coyotes' recently filing for bankruptcy (NHL commissioner Gary Bettman reiterated he wants to keep the franchise in Arizona) and the leagues' ability to compete with soccer in the international market (the internet, Stern said, "is our friend").

And in terms of the future of sports not in the bank but on the field, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell again spoke of his support for expanding the season to 18 games and eliminating two preseason games.

"Fans continually tell me, directly and through our research, that preseason games are not of value to them," Goodell said, "and on the football side, we don't believe it adds to the quality of the product during the regular season."